Read Online The Game Has Changed by D. L. Wu - Free Book Online

my fag, now would we?'
    “Don't worry,” she uttered shakily,
disappointed that he still didn't trust her. She decided to be bold
and cried out just as he opened the door. “Why don't you trust me
yet?”
    He turned to face her. A deep sigh escaped him.
“If I were you, I don't think I'd trust me. I'd certainly want to
shoot me in the head. That's why I don't trust you yet,” he stated
and then disappeared out the door.
    Jaime wasn't exactly sure as to why his
observation made her feel miserable, but it did. She started to sob
while he was outside smoking his cigarette. After a few moments of
weeping, she jumped up from the bed and stared out the front
window. It was dark outside already, but there were street lamps
lighting the grass and the parking lot out front.
    She could see Evan standing beside one of the
street lamps. His head was low and one of his hands was stuffed
within his jacket pocket. The other was holding the cigarette
between his fingers. He didn't seem to be smoking it, though, and
his body language seemed depressed and sullen. She wanted to rush
over to him, yet she knew she shouldn't. Instead, she bit down on
her bottom lip and forced her tears away.
    He stayed away far longer than she’d expected
him to. As Jaime sat back down on the bed, she wondered if he
needed to get away from her for a while. That idea made her just as
miserable as the last one did and she promptly started sobbing
again. When the door finally opened, she knew Evan could tell she
was crying. She saw concern written across every inch of his
face.
    “What's wrong, Luv?” he asked as he slid his
jacket off of his shoulders and approached the bed's
edge.
    She didn't want to admit that he was making her
cry as she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of knowing it.
After all, he was plenty cocky enough. Instead, she proceeded to
lie and utilize the pity defense at the same time. “I'm just
homesick,” she sobbed.
    He nodded slowly. “Of course you are,” he
whispered. “Is there something in your backpack that would help?”
He reached for the bag and set it down beside her.
    “How did you know?”
    He shrugged and smiled. “I didn't,
really.”
    She carefully opened it and pulled out the
picture of her father and herself. She inspected it for a moment
and then handed it to him. Evan accepted the photograph and stared
at it before smiling tenderly at her as he handed it back to
her.
    “I can see why you revere him so.”
    “I do?” she whispered.
    He looked at her directly. “You do.”
    “He was very handsome,” she said
wistfully.
    “Well, see, I told you.” Evan smiled. “You look
just like him, you know. I told you that you were beautiful. Do you
believe me now?”
    Jaime smiled demurely, her sadness had suddenly
vanished. “He was a little overweight, though. Just a
tad.”
    “But you're perfect.”
    Their gazes clashed. After a moment of intense
staring, Jaime shyly looked back down at the photo, but she
couldn't see it anymore. Her head was spinning and her eyes
blurred.
    That look he’d just given her . . . She could
hardly control the electricity that was coursing through her. In a
flustered panic, she tried to keep him from knowing what she was
feeling, then and there. She pulled her wooden wolf box out of her
backpack to keep herself occupied.
    “More treasures?” he inquired.
    She nodded sadly. “He bought me this. It's
filled with postcards he sent to me.”
    Evan smiled with understanding. “Keep it
always,” he whispered.
    The tears streamed down her cheeks so suddenly
that it alarmed her. Yet what happened next amazed her even more.
She was literally trembling, almost ready to explode, when she felt
Evan pull her within his arms and hug her affectionately as he
pressed her against his chest.
    What a wonderful feeling! She sobbed as she
buried her face against his warm tee shirt. She could feel his body
heat radiating from him and she could smell his wonderful scent as
it wafted in her